Defending You
by Historyexplorer12
Summary: My take on Hephaestion and Craterus' fight, and the aftermath of it. Disclaimer: All characters belong to Oliver Stone and history! Warnings: fighting, swearing, rated T to be safe, may be in wrong genres
1. The Fight

Hephaestion overheard Craterus whispering loudly to his friends and knew he was meant to hear what the conversation contained.

"Whore... Doesn't know how to sleep without his ass in the air..." to which his friends gave a collective hum of agreement.

Hephaestion smirked and turned to his attacker. Going up to him, he said sweetly, "Joy to you, Craterus," Craterus simply snarled in return, and didn't hesistate to say to Hephaestion what he really thought of him. Hephaestion only laughed lightly at the insult, "For you to say that in your own right, my good man, you and I would have had to slept together, and I would never do such a thing."

"You would have to leave your sweet Alexander to do so, because _I _do not share well, Hephaestion."

"What Alexander does when I am not with him is his own business. I will still hold him in my heart even if he had a thousand wives or boys."

"That mouse of a Persian queen hasn't even bore him a son yet. Our Macedonian women would've been heavy with child by now if he had chosen one of them. But he is too enamored with the Barbarians, the rat," Craterus spat viciously.

"Be careful of how you speak, Craterus, this is treason," Hephaestion's voice became hard with warning.

"You all are rats, and by association, _he _is a rat as well."

"Why you _traitor_! How dare you!" with that, Hephaestion's sword was bare, and his body was naturally taking a fighting stance; body turned to the side and crouched slightly with one leg in front and one in back before he raised his dark, angry eyes to Craterus in warning. He failed to notice Ptolemy rushing off to tell Alexander of the situation or Cleitus moving up behind him to pull the two angry men apart.

He only took note of Craterus' fist flying at him, and dropped his sword to the floor just in time to ineffectively block the blow by catching the man's fist in both his hands, but not before it hit Hephaestion under the chin with enough force to cause his head to rock back. It took him a moment to get back his bearings, but once he did, he dug his heels into the floor and-

"What in the names of all the gods is going on here?!" All activity in the room stopped as Alexander's shout rang out, Hephaestion and Craterus still locked together, Hephaestion's hands tearing at Craterus' arm while Craterus' arm was pressed over Hephaestion's throat in an attempt to choke him. Alexander stared at them both a moment before talking to Cleitus and Ptolemy who stood behind him, "Separate them."

It was quickly done, and Ptolemy caught and supported Hephaestion as his friend coughed and gasped air back into his lungs. Craterus, while they were both soldiers, was much bigger than Hephaestion and had used that advantage to try to crush Hephaestion's windpipe.

"I will NOT tolerate fighting among my men! You both are banished to your rooms until I can figure out what to do with you," Alexander's eyes snapped and spit fire in his rage as he screamed, red in the face.

"A-Al-lexander..." Hephaestion coughed harshly as he tried to explain, still wrapped in Ptolemy's arms.

"Not a word. I thought petty fighting below you, General," Alexander walked over to the two Companions, "Apparently I was wrong."

"I was-" he tried to speak, his voice still choked and raw-sounding.

"It does not matter _what_ in the gods' names you were doing! You disobeyed the rules you helped to set in place. You must not be Alexander then. You are just Hephaestion," he scoffed, his voice low and dangerous, "You are nothing without me. General," he addressed Ptolemy, "escort him to his rooms, and see to it that he remains there."

Ptolemy bowed slightly before beginning to lead Hephaestion away, ignoring Hephaestion's look of utter betrayal for the moment, "Yes, my King..."

They made it to Hephaestion's rooms and Ptolemy was able to shut the door before the blue-eyed man flew into a rage that rivaled Alexander's just a few minutes before.

"How dare he?! I am nothing without him? He is nothing without _me_! That- That- IDIOT!"

"Hephaestion, he was probably scared and worried-"

Hephaestion whirled to face his friend, "No! He didn't even look at me with concern. He didn't even see the situation for what it was. Instead, his anger went to his head and he took it out on _me_! Did he not see the pain I was in?! I can barely talk even now! And then there's you and Cleitus. You heard what Craterus said. Why did you not tell Alexander what happened?"

"It all happened so fast-"

"He was commiting treason by saying what he did, and yet I was the only one in the entire room to try and do something about it! Some loyal men you are..." tired now, he turned toward his bed and went to it, sitting down on it exhaustedly and putting his face in his hands.

Ptolemy, knowing that his friend and comrade was only saying these things out of tiredness and grief, walked to the bed and sat down as gently as he could, taking his upset comrade into his chest and holding him there.

Now unable to hide his sorrow any longer, Hephaestion sobbed into Ptolemy's chest. Alexander had said he was nothing without him. Was it really true? Had Alexander given him everything that made him a good person? Was he no more to Alexander than a slave to be used and abused and then thrown out, or worse?

That last thought made more tears flow down his cheeks and he clutched at Ptolemy's tunic, receiving a shush from Ptolemy as well as a hand petting his hair.

"He will know his mistake tomorrow, and I know he will do everything in his power to make it right," Ptolemy soothed, speaking of Alexander.

By now, Hephaestion's tears had all but cooled on his cheeks, and his sobs had died out, so he was sure to hear the slightly older general's reassurances. However, he did not know if he should believe them.


	2. Aftermath and Reconciliation

Hours passed in which Ptolemy stayed with Hephaestion, comforting him in every way he could or that Hephaestion wished. Currently, Hephaestion had just taken a soothing bath and changed into his nightclothes, his skin pink and his hair loose down his back. Ptolemy had previously gone down to the kitchens to ask after some chamomile tea in the hopes that it would sooth Hephaestion after the trouble Alexander had put hm through that day. When he had returned, he found Hephaestion laying on the bed with his head turned toward him, but with his eyes unfocused and watery.

"Hephaestion," he went carefully to the bedside and knelt down, taking the cup he held in his hand and pressing it to the very tips of Hephaestion's fingers so as to make him aware that Ptolemy was with him. Hephaestion jumped up into a sitting position, startled. When he realized it was only Ptolemy with a cup of tea for him, he blinked as if just seeing him, which he was, essentially. Ptolemy smiled gently at him, showing in just that small gesture that he meant no harm and that he cared for him, "I have some tea for you. I thought it might sooth your nerves. It's chamomile."

"T-thank you..." disoriented, Hephaestion reached for the tea, which Ptolemy did not let go of until he was sure Hephaestion had a firm hold on it. After a moment, Hephaestion took a hesitant sip but startled again when Ptolemy moved off to the side, giving Hephaestion space he believed he needed.

But when Hephaestion looked up at him with wide, newly teary eyes, he regretted his assumption and immediately went back to Hephaestion's side as the younger man began to weep again. He held and rocked him as he wept. Finally, Ptolemy took the still-full cup of tea away from Hephaestion, as the man's entire body was shaking with his deep sorrow.

"Come here," in the gentlest tone he could manage, Ptolemy coaxed Hephaestion to crawl further onto the bed and lay down beside him, petting his hair and shushing until Hephaestion fell asleep, as Ptolemy had long ago noticed the piles of papers sitting messily on the man's desk that was across from the bed, and knew that Hephaestion hadn't been getting sleep at night for the gods only knew how long. Besides, Ptolemy knew he would need it if he was going to face Alexander the next day.

* * *

><p>Cleitus stared at Alexander as if the man had grown an extra head. He could not believe that Alexander had said and done what he had. For the longest time, he had watched Alexander and Hephaestion grow into men together; there had never been one without the other.<p>

Right now however, they were separated, and Cleitus could only thank the gods that Ptolemy was caring for Hephaestion, as the red-haired man had a temper to match his fiery hair and would have most likely torn Alexander for hurting Hephaestion- who Ptolemy saw as a younger brother, Cleitus knew- limb from limb.

As it was, Alexander was pacing his rooms where Cleitus had managed to get him after Craterus and Hephaestion's fight, snorting and tossing his head like a caged animal.

"Alexander, I know Craterus and Hephaestion both broke your rules to ensure the unity and safety of your entire army by fighting the way that they did, but do you not think your words to Hephaestion were a bit harsh?"

Alexander whirled on him,"My words were harsh, were they? Tell that to the man who made me look like a fool by starting the fight! Hephaestion made me look like a fool by showing the entire army that my rules and commands meant nothing! He made me look like a fucking fool, Cleitus, a fucking fool!"

"He was defending you!" done with being patient, Cleitus roared in anger at the man who he saw as both his king and his nephew, due to the fact that his sister had nursed Alexander from the moment he left his mother's womb, "Craterus said some words against you and Hephaestion was defending your honor and right as our king!"

Alexander stomped his foot like an upset child and continued to pace, gesticulating as he did so, "No, he wasn't! He knows better than to do that!"

Both of them had, in their anger, failed to realize that when Alexander had first stopped to face Cleitus, he had picked up a small trinket in the shape of a lion that was carved out of ivory, a love token from Hephaestion many years before, as it had sat on Alexander's writing table in front of which he had paused in his pacing, and, up until now, that he had worked the small gift in between his fingers as he moved and screamed, marking his palms with the lion's weight, the smooth ivory bruising his hands as he clenched his hands into fists. It was only when he threw it to the floor and the head broke away from the body as it hit the carpet that eveything stopped. It took a speechless Alexander a few moments to sink slowly to the floor and pick up the pieces of the delicately carved figure, and look up at a silent Cleitus with unshed tears already wetting his pale eyelashes.

Finally, Cleitus crouched in front of his distraught nephew, his voice voice soft when he next spoke.

"I am sure Hephaestion will forgive you, Alexander," the reason of Alexander's words which had been spoken in a time of anger went unspoken but were implied and understood by the king.

"No... No, he won't..." the word was but a whisper as Alexander let his tears fall, shaking his head. His tears fell onto the two pieces of the ivory lion, and Cleitus knew the words held much more weight, more history, than his own had, "I've done a terrible thing, Uncle..." Alexander looked up at him now, and his eyes were already red-rimmed with the physical manifestation of his sorrow.

"Come," he pulled him up from the floor.

Alexander looked at him in horror, clearly understanding all too well where his uncle meant to take him, "No! We- I can't!"

Cleitus paused in his efforts, only to look at Alexander with such a passion in his eyes that even Alexander was a little afraid.

"Listen to me well, Mégas Aléxandros, you can and you will fix your mistake. It is killing both you and Hephaestion to be apart like this, I know. So you may be still angry with Hephaestion, you may want to still yell at him and say he is nothing, but you will remedy your error, do you understand me?"

"Yes Sir," Alexander could only squeak.

"Good. Come," and then Alexander was being dragged out of the room and down the corridor until he and Cleitus were in front of Hephaestion's bedchamber door. Cleitus looked sideways at his nephew, glaring at him in warning before reaching out to knock on he solid wood of the door.

Ptolemy was the one to answer the door, and took the time before he allowed them in to the rooms to tell them that Hephaestion was asleep and that he would wake him to tell him that they were there. They walked in to see Ptolemy knelt by the bed gently talking to Hephaestion as he was walking up. Alexander's heart clenched as he saw Hephaestion look over Ptolemy's shoulder at him and shrink back a little further onto the bed. He watched Ptolemy reach out to touch him on the arm, rubbing his forearm comfortingly.

"Cleitus and I can stay if you want," he heard Ptolemy whisper.

A silent look between the two men answered Ptolemy's question, and he took Cleitus out of the room in mere moments. After they were both gone and the door was closed behind them, both Alexander and Hephaestion stayed still and silent a few minutes before Hephaestion was the first to move, standing up from the bed.

"My king..." Alexander watched as Hephaestion bowed and felt as if the motion was mocking him, even though he knew Hephaestion wasn't.

"Hephaestion.." he was quiet, unsure.

"A-Alexander, I did not mean to put you in such a position that would cause the army to quuestion your authority. I-" he was cut off as Alexander started to talk over him.

"No, no. It was my fault. I assumed you were the one at fault-"

"I was-"

Alexander held up a hand to bid his lover pause, knowing that only one of them could talk at a time if they were to get anywhere with the conversation, "Let me finish. I assumed you the were one at fault only because you are the one that is closest to my heart. As I hope you always will be. My Love," his eyes held a fragile hope within them.

"Yes, Alexander," Hephaestion's smile was wavering even as Alexander watched, and it didn't quite reach his eyes, "I always will be."

"Even after I-" Alexander swallowed visably, working the broken pieces of the trinket, which Hephaestion hadn't yet seen, between his fingers nervously. Now he held out the pieces to Hephaestion, "I broke the trinket you gave me while I was angry. I'm sorry," he knew there was more he had to say, more weight behind those last two words, but he couldn't bring himself to bear that weight. Not yet. Not until he knew his Phai was truly Alexander once more, and knew it too.

Hephaestion took the pieces from his lover even as his smile became stronger, more sure, "You think I care for a trinket that I found on the ground after the marketplace moved on the year we turned ten? Alexander, I thought I was useless to you. As of today, I thought you felt nothing more of the same feelings that I feel for you. And I _never _want to feel that again. I assume you don't either."

Alexander shook his head enthusiastically, "Never again."

Hephaestion's smile was bright this time, "Thank the gods," he closed the rest of the distance that was between them, an act he had slowly been doing in all the time that they had been talking, and cupped Alexander's face in warm, gentle hands, "May I kiss you? My king, my Love."

"Yes. Of course, Phai. You never have to ask."

So Hephaestion did something he knew they both wanted. And needed.

**Translations:**

**Mégas Aléxandros = Great Alexander **


End file.
